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Technology Stocks : WCOM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jackrabbit who wrote (6239)	4/4/2000 11:43:00 PM
From: KevRupert	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

MCI WorldCom Details Wireless Efforts To Provide New Broadband Internet Option Bureau of National Affairs March 8, 2000 MCI WorldCom outlined its wireless high-speed Internet-access initiative March 7 that may benefit rural Americans and, in turn, help the company get government approval of its proposed merger with Sprint. The company?s multipoint multichannel distributing service (MMDS), which aims to compete with high-speed cable and phone systems for a share of the broadband pie, is being marketed on a trial basis in Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Memphis, Tenn. MMDS delivers wireless broadband services to "fixed" customer locations. "This gives them the convenience to use their PC [personal computer] with high-speed access anywhere in their apartment, and anywhere in their apartment complex," said Kerry McKelvey, vice president for marketing at MCI WorldCom Wireless Solutions, in a conference call with reporters. "More and more workers work at home and they need to have high-speed access away from their office. This has been an attractive audience for us." McKelvey said dozens of businesses and several individuals have already begun using the fixed wireless service. The company rolled out two packages: one preliminarily called "WarpOne" for businesses and "Warp310" for individuals. WarpOne can provide Internet access of speeds ranging from 128 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.5 megabits per second (mbps), he said, and in some cases can travel as fast as 8 mbps. Businesses are paying between $300 and $600 a month for the service depending upon the speed they choose. The "Warp310" is directed at the personal user and can move data at 310 kbps, which McKelvey pointed out exceeds dial-up speeds. The company is charging $39.95 per month for service, in order to be competitive against the phone companies? high-speed digital subscriber line service, he said. Both services require users to insert a PC card into their computers to receive Internet access. There is no common standard for manufacturing these cards, however, the company has been working within the industry to create a standard. MMDS Advantages Highlighted McKelvey and Jonathan Mapes, chief technology officer for MCI WorldCom Wireless Solutions, touted several aspects of MMDS during the teleconference where they officially announced the trial market efforts. "In looking at rural areas, DSL and cable are extremely slow to market and in a lot of cases technologically limited," Mapes said. "The solution is the MMDS technology. From WorldCom?s perspective, we view MMDS as another transport alternative to hopefully deliver rich content to our customers. It?s a real viable alternative to a pipe to the residence." Mapes said the system is weather resistant and can reach more than 30 miles in most markets. He said the system allows the company to be "very surgical" in deploying it in areas that cable may not be able to reach. Mapes said MMDS is cost-efficient, as well, costing about $2,000 per square mile to deploy. System May Help Merger Case With MCI WorldCom?s merger with Sprint still awaiting federal approval, the alternative broadband system may help make the companies? case to regulators. Each company?s MMDS spectrum rights covers about 33 percent of the country?s geography. Together, however, they would have access to 54 million homes. "Independently, (MMDS) was an interesting thing," Mapes said. "Together, it becomes even more interesting." Mapes said beyond the obvious benefits of increased manpower, tower access and bandwidth, the two companies together would drive down costs to Internet services. "One of the big synergies we see in providing this is that it gives us the ability to expand the package of services to our customers," Mapes said. MCI WorldCom plans to have an open access policy to the MMDS system, he said. Currently, consumer advocacy groups are pressing for government regulation to force AT&T and Time Warner, which is planning to merge with America Online, to provide open access to the broadband network on the cable infrastructure. "From an architectural perspective, we are focused on providing an open access, for choice and for access to other services from other carriers? for Internet providers," Mapes said. "It?s a very robust, functional and open architecture." The company has committed itself to conduct technology field tests in larger markets throughout 2000, in hopes of being able to offer MMDS to more than 100 cities by late 2001.